Wednesday, 8 April 2020

The Moth: Occasional Magic, ed. Catherine Burns

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Founded by George Dawes Green, The
Moth had its first event in 1997. The venues and audiences may have grown
but the essence is the same – a microphone and a selection of speakers sharing
their stories with a room of strangers. The
Moth now has a large following with millions of podcast subscribers,
regular radio slots, and sell-out shows across the world, it reminds us of the
extraordinary in the ordinary.

Occasional Magic is the latest book to come out of the project and it makes for emotional
reading. You’ll find yourself completely immersed and invested in the fifty
tales within its pages. The stories are varied - from finding out a parent isn’t
quite what you thought to losing a loved one, trekking across Antarctica, or
confronting an inappropriate street performer. The storytellers come from all
walks of life, offering an insight into experiences so different from our own
and yet reminding us of our shared humanity.

The stories are all fairly short but you’ll
struggle to put the book down as you alternate between laughing and crying,
with moments where you need to sit with what you’ve just read. This is a
brilliant read that reminds you there is hope in even the darkest of times and
that every life has some occasional magic in it.